Chef Charles Hall II gives Menu Planning Course on Statia

Mr. Charles Hall II who has been invited to Statia by the St.Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation to give a week long training course on Menu Planning was impressed with the overall experience.
Chef Charles II started cooking from the early age of 12. He graduated from Johnson & Wales University with a degree in Culinary Arts and a degree in Food Service Management. He worked as a Sous Chef at Hilton Resorts, Restaurant Manager at the J.W.Marriott Hotel in Washington D.C. and as the Executive Chef at St.Albans School on the grounds of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Today Chef Charles owns his own catering business called Shake n Bake in Maryland.
The classes started on Monday June 20 with participants ranging from caterers, cooks, hotel staff and aspiring chefs.
The course dubbed “Menu Planning” was met with subtitels such as: Purchasing, Standards of measurement, Sanitation, Use of equipment and small wares, Cooking techniques and applications etc.
On Friday June 24 2011 the final day of the course, certificates were given to the 24 persons who completed the training. Chef Charles planned a wonderful menu of Coconut peas & Rice, Jerk Grouper in Mango Sauce, Green Salad with a papaya/strawberry vinagrette made from scratch, stuffed cucumber chunks and grilled green beans with red peppers. The class was invited into the kitchen and everyone helped out in preparing the meal before sitting down together to enjoy it.
Director of Tourism Mr. Charles Lindo was present to hand out the certificates and expressed his gratitude to Chef Charles for accepting the invitation to give the training, the Gwendolyn van Putten School for the use of their facilities and to all the persons who faithfully attended the training each day and for their active participation and willingness to improve themselves in the hospitality field. He especially thank Mrs. Maya Leon-Pandt, Product Development & Research Manager and the rest of the Tourism staff for putting together such a successful event and said he looked forward to the next one.

Commissioner of Tourism and Director of Tourism attending Caribbean Week NY

Statia’s Commissioner of Tourism and Director of Tourism are in New York attending “Caribbean Week” hosted by Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).

Every year CTO organizes Caribbean Week in New York, it combines business sessions and consumer-oriented events with food, fashion, entertainment and networking opportunities.

Both the Commissioner and the Director are expected to attend an array of meetings pertaining to Tourism in the Caribbean and new ways to attract tourists using social media and other marketing tools.

Caribbean week will come to an end on Saturday June 11 2011 with film screenings and forums that showcase the power and potential of the Caribbean film industry organized by Caribbean Tales in collaboration with the Caribbean Tourism Organization Long Island University.

Statia Hosts Travel & Destination Expo

Oranjestad-St.Eustatius, Carib-A-Travel organized a well attended Travel & Destination Expo on Statia June 4-5 2011 at the Lions Den.
Carib-A-Travel a well known travel agency on St.Maarten who specializes in cruises teamed up with Authentic Caribbean Holidays, a tour operator who sells packages to Statia to host the event.
Visitors to the Expo got the much needed information on how to plan your cruise, the different cruise lines available, special cruises for kids and teens, easy payment plans for your cruise etc. There was an agent offering special packages to Surinam while another agent offered packages to exotic places such as Brazil, Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica etc. Packages included airfare, hotel, tours and meals.
Mrs. Alsira Ansano of Carib-A-Travel offered a free cruise for two to one lucky person who was chosen from the large amount of attendees who basically just had to fill in a card with their name and number once they entered the door. The lucky winner turned out to be Wilhelmina Marsdin.